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  • Feature: How Nigerian businesses can leverage Agentic AI for growth and efficiency

    Feature: How Nigerian businesses can leverage Agentic AI for growth and efficiency

    By Kehinde Ogundare

    Artificial Intelligence (AI) is revolutionising industries globally, and Nigeria is no exception to this trend. Businesses in Nigeria are increasingly exploring AI-driven automation to enhance efficiency, drive innovation, and remain competitive. However, AI adoption remains relatively low, as many businesses struggle to identify practical use cases that deliver measurable ROI.

    A key emerging trend addressing this challenge is Agentic AI–a more advanced form of AI that enables businesses to create autonomous digital agents capable of handling complex tasks, optimising workflows, and improving decision-making. Unlike traditional AI models that react to user inputs, Agentic AI proactively learns, makes decisions, and automates entire processes, making it a game-changer for businesses looking to scale productivity.

    The Rise of Agentic AI in Business

    Globally, AI adoption has grown, but many businesses still hesitate due to concerns over cost, implementation complexity, and lack of clear ROI. According to McKinsey & Company, organisations that have successfully integrated AI-driven automation report efficiency improvements ranging from 20–30%. The key to unlocking AI’s full potential lies in specialised AI models designed for specific business functions–precisely where Agentic AI excels.

    For example, in customer service, AI-powered agents can automate repetitive tasks, resolve issues faster, and enhance customer satisfaction. Studies have shown that nearly 88% of Nigerian consumers consider customer experience critical to their purchasing decisions. Agentic AI can help businesses meet these expectations by providing instant, personalised support.

    In sales, AI-driven Sales Development Representative (SDR) Agent can analyse customer interactions, identify sales opportunities, and suggest targeted outreach strategies. Research highlights that businesses using AI in sales automation experience increase conversion rates and higher sales productivity.

    Similarly, Human Resources (HR) operations are being transformed by AI-powered automation. Tasks such as leave management, employee onboarding, and performance tracking can be effectively handled by Agentic AI, allowing HR professionals to focus on strategic employment engagement. Deloitte indicates that AI-powered HR automation reduces administrative workload significantly, enhancing employee satisfaction and operational efficiency.

    In IT operations, AI-powered Help Desk Agents streamline troubleshooting, diagnose issues, and execute quick fixes. This reduces downtime and significantly improves operational continuity and productivity.

    How Zoho is Innovating with Agentic AI

    At Zoho, we recognise the potential of Agentic AI and have developed Zia Agents for specific use cases within various products. Unlike generic AI models, Zia Agents provide contextual intelligence, real-time decision-making, and deep business-specific insights. Additionally, Zoho ensures that Zia agents operate within a secure infrastructure, fully compliant with various global privacy regulations, making it a trusted solution for businesses handling sensitive data.

    We have also launched Agent Studio, an AI-powered platform that enables our customers, partners, and independent developers to create specialised agents for their specific needs. These can be hosted on Agent Marketplace, where they can be monetised. Nigerian businesses can utilise Agent Studio to build hyperlocal agents for various industries.

    The Future of Business with Agentic AI

    The shift towards Agentic AI is inevitable as businesses increasingly seek smarter, more autonomous systems to drive efficiency and growth. Organisations that embrace AI-driven today will be better positioned to compete in Nigeria’s evolving digital economy.

    For Nigerian businesses looking to scale efficiently, Agentic AI  offers a practical and results driven approach to automation. By leveraging Zoho’s Zia Agents, companies can achieve higher productivity, ensuring long-term success in a competitive marketplace. 

    Kehinde Ogundare is the Country Head of Zoho Nigeria

  • Feature- Unleashing Nigeria’s business potential: The cloud as a catalyst for growth

    Feature- Unleashing Nigeria’s business potential: The cloud as a catalyst for growth

    By Kehinde Ogundare

    Nigeria’s entrepreneurial spirit is undeniable. Amidst a dynamic and competitive market, businesses are brimming with potential, poised to become regional and even global powerhouses. However, realising this potential requires navigating a challenging landscape—one marked by limited IT resources, complex operational hurdles, and the inertia of traditional business practices. For Nigerian businesses, the path to sustainable growth lies in digital transformation, with cloud-based technologies serving as a key enabler.

    With a burgeoning middle class and a tech-savvy population, Nigeria offers fertile ground for innovation and expansion. Yet, many businesses remain tethered to manual processes, limiting their ability to scale and compete effectively. This is where cloud technology and comprehensive digital toolsets become indispensable.

    The need for digital transformation

    Traditional growth models lack the agility needed to keep pace with an evolving market. Manual processes lead to inefficiencies, limited data insights hinder informed decision-making, and restricted IT resources stifle innovation. To overcome these hurdles, businesses must adopt digital tools that streamline operations, automate workflows, and provide actionable insights.

    Digital transformation isn’t about adopting technology for its own sake—it’s about scaling efficiently. In today’s digital economy, scaling is critical for businesses seeking to expand their market reach, remain competitive, and meet evolving customer demands. Digital tools enable businesses to amplify their impact, drive revenue growth, and optimise costs, ensuring long-term sustainability.

    The power of cloud-based solutions

    Cloud-based platforms eliminate the need for costly infrastructure investments, offering businesses access to cutting-edge technology on a flexible, scalable basis. By automating repetitive tasks, streamlining workflows, and enhancing productivity, these platforms free up valuable resources, allowing businesses to focus on strategy and customer engagement.

    An integrated SaaS platform offers a unified ecosystem to manage all facets of a business. By providing a centralised suite of applications, it automates workflows, reduces manual data entry, and improves team collaboration. Businesses can reduce operational costs and accelerate decision-making, ultimately enabling faster expansion into new markets.

    With Zoho software, the emphasis is on contextual intelligence, leveraging AI to provide genuine customer value. In a market where customer experience is paramount, Zoho’s AI-powered insights enable businesses to personalise interactions, anticipate needs, and strengthen customer relationships. Zoho’s unwavering commitment to customer privacy also ensures that businesses can leverage data responsibly, fostering trust and long-term loyalty.

    A holistic approach to business growth

    Zoho’s philosophy of optimising the entire technology stack—from hardware to software—ensures seamless integration and optimal performance. This holistic approach translates into better technology for Nigerian businesses, enabling them to focus on their core competencies without being weighed down by technical complexities.

    For Nigerian businesses, digital transformation is no longer optional—it’s a necessity. By embracing cloud-based technology, they can overcome traditional growth barriers, scale efficiently, and unlock their full potential.

    The future of Nigerian business is digital. By adopting the cloud, businesses can transform challenges into opportunities, paving the way for sustainable growth in an increasingly competitive global marketplace.

    Kehinde Ogundare is the Country Head of Zoho Nigeria

  • Not Using Unified Collaboration Platform Resulting in Productivity Loss for Nigerian Businesses, Reveals Zoho’s Survey

    Not Using Unified Collaboration Platform Resulting in Productivity Loss for Nigerian Businesses, Reveals Zoho’s Survey

    Zoho, a leading global technology company, has unveiled the results of its study, “The State of Productivity and Collaboration in Nigeria, 2024”, which surveyed over 500 organisations with more than 50 employees across the country. The findings reveal critical workplace productivity challenges, including the overwhelming impact of data silos resulting from fragmented systems and inefficient app usage. The survey study also highlights the growing demand for unified platforms, which can help businesses streamline employee collaboration.

    “Nigerian businesses have adopted a variety of cloud tools over the years to support their digital transformation journey. However, they are beginning to recognise that these disconnected tools often lack integration with their existing technology stack, creating silos that hinder collaboration and lead to productivity losses. As this issue gains attention, the demand for unified collaboration platforms with advanced AI capabilities has surged, as corroborated by the survey findings. In Nigeria, we’ve observed a notable increase in the adoption of Zoho Workplace, reflecting this trend. Zoho Workplace set the standard for a unified experience as early as 2017, well ahead of the industry giants. It offers not just a unified interface, but brings contextual data to the forefront, saving time, and enabling users to focus on what truly matters,” said Kehinde Ogundare, Country Head, Zoho Nigeria.

    Key Findings from the Study

    The study shows that 55% of Nigerian businesses have adopted a fully on-site work model, while 31% operate in a hybrid setup, and the remaining 14% were in completely remote roles. Most remote roles are held by individual contributors with limited collaboration requirements, while hybrid workers face significant barriers in maintaining effective communication.

    The survey also revealed that 51% of employees use 1–5 apps daily, 35% use 6-10 apps, while 14% rely on more than 10 apps. App usage is higher among senior executives, with 81% of the C-Suite employees using more than 10 apps, while 72% of junior employees use 1-5 apps. The most commonly used tools are for productivity and collaboration (68%), followed by project management (47%), business intelligence (47%), and accounting (43%). Despite widespread app usage, only 50% of the respondents track their tasks in a unified view, with higher adoption rates among the C-Suite (78%) and senior leadership (63%).

    Productivity Challenges and Opportunities

    For the Nigerian workforce, the biggest collaboration challenge is poor WiFi/data connectivity (80%), across demographics. This indicates the need for solutions that have an offline mode and can work in lower data connectivity.

    Other collaboration challenges are digital fatigue (54%), and information spread across too many apps (45%). For middle managers, the second biggest challenge, after poor WiFi, is communication with employees in a remote or hybrid setup. According to the respondents, the most effective way to improve productivity in Nigerian workplaces is to enable quick access to necessary information from different apps (78%), followed by adoption of new technologies like AI (72%), and the ability to communicate from within business apps (55%).

    There is a clear demand for unified collaboration platforms bolstered with AI capabilities that can be integrated into existing software ecosystems. Such solutions will not only help in reducing the time taken to do the job, but can also reduce digital fatigue as one will not have to juggle multiple apps.

    The Economic Outlook

    As per the survey, 51% of the respondents said their organisation had adopted new technology to prepare themselves for the economic challenges. Those who said their companies had adopted new technology were more positive about the ability of their company to deal with the competition (rating 4 out of 5) than those who said their company had not adopted new technology (rating a little over 3 out of 5). However, largely, respondents feel their companies are adequately prepared to face economic challenges (57%).

    In fact, according to the findings, slow adoption of emerging technologies like AI emerged as the most significant factor hindering their ability to stay ahead in a rapidly evolving market, cited by 46% of the respondents. Other reasons cited as causing competitive disadvantages were low adoption of digital tools (45%), and employees switching between too many apps (41%).

    Zoho Workplace

    Zoho Workplace is a unified collaboration platform that brings together communication, collaboration, and productivity applications, showing all relevant information and tasks in a single view. It comprises email, chat, online meeting, webinar, office suite (word processor, spreadsheet, and presentation), file storage, and social intranet.

  • Zoho Launches AI-Rich Version of Zoho Analytics, Democratising Self-Service BI to Any Persona or Business

    Zoho Launches AI-Rich Version of Zoho Analytics, Democratising Self-Service BI to Any Persona or Business

    …introducing unified metrics, generative AI-powered reports and insights, and a custom ML model building studio  

     Zoho Corporation, a leading global technology company, today launched a new version of Zoho Analytics—Zoho’s self-service BI and analytics platform. Among more than 100 other enhancements, Zoho Analytics has developed powerful new AI and ML capabilities, enabling diagnostic insights, predictive analysis, and automated report and dashboard generation.

    Additionally, Zoho Analytics now includes a custom ML model-building studio, seamless integration with Open AI, 25+ new data connectors, and third-party BI platform extensions. The latest version has added power, intelligence, and flexibility to serve a broader range of businesses and users than competitors in the market.

    Recent research from Oracle reveals that 97% of business leaders want data to drive their decision-making processes. Additionally, a Gartner study predicts that by 2026, two-thirds of B2B sales organisations will shift from intuition-based to data-driven decision-making.

    “Zoho Analytics, launched as Zoho Reports in 2009, entered the market long before technology had caught up with Zoho’s forward-thinking vision for business intelligence,” said Kehinde Ogundare, Country Head, Zoho Nigeria. “Since then, Zoho has made considerable investments around automation, no-code/low-code development, third-party integration, machine learning, and Zia, Zoho’s in-house AI engine. The latest version of Zoho Analytics is one of the first solutions from the company to take advantage of every one of these decades-long investments. The result is a democratised platform that is powerful, intelligent, and flexible enough to benefit everyone and anyone.”

    The latest version of Zoho Analytics has advanced across four key areas: Data Management, AI, Data Science & Machine Learning, and Extensibility. Below are notable highlights of the platform across these four categories.

    Data Management Hub

    Zoho Analytics has expanded its data management capabilities, adding Stream Analytics, ETL data pipelines, and metrics-layer enhancements to ensure broader access to more accurate data for businesses. It has expanded its 500+ data connector portfolio by adding Stream Analytics, along with 25 other new data connectors. Business users can now create and manage complex ETL data pipelines within the platform. New Unified Metrics Layer enables users to define, standardise, monitor, access control, and catalogue all business metrics in a single pane. The platform also extends to serve in a Headless BI mode, allowing data apps to consume the same metrics in real time for consistent and dependable insights.

    BI Infused with Generative AI

    Zoho Analytics has introduced Generative AI capabilities across the BI platform to accelerate the adoption of insights for a broad spectrum of user personas. With Zoho’s AI-powered, automated insights engine, Zia Insights, now provides diagnostic analytics contextually, bringing decision intelligence into the platform.

    Ask Zia, Zoho’s multilingual Natural Language Querying AI copilot, has been enhanced, allowing users to trigger actions and build custom data models. Users can now converse with Ask Zia within IM channels, including Microsoft Teams, to generate deeper, faster, and more contextual insights and actions. Zoho Analytics now has Auto Analysis, enabling AI-powered automated metrics, report, and dashboard generation.

    Zoho Analytics’ seamless Open AI integration drives more relevant and accurate query responses. Using Open AI APIs with BYOK, users can more easily find public datasets and create formula & SQL queries.

    Data Science and Machine Learning Studio

    Zoho Analytics now features the Data Science and Machine Learning (DSML) Studio, supporting users to build custom machine learning models for specific business requirements. With AutoML, a no-code assistant, to build custom ML models easily. With ‌feature engineering, hyperparameter tuning, and comprehensive model analysis, it enables users to ‌ train, test, compare, deploy, and manage models.

    Zoho Analytics also features Code Studio, the platform’s new integrated Python code environment where users can create custom ML models, as well as import Python models or externally built libraries, which can be executed within the platform.

    Platform Extensibility

    Zoho Analytics is more deeply extendable, adding new capabilities such as its no-code builder for data connectors, actions framework, BI fabric, and client SDKs. It is a composable platform on which any analytical solution can be built. Its new BI fabric enables businesses to consolidate insights from multiple BI platforms, such as Power BI and Tableau, onto one, easily accessible and searchable analytics portal.

    Within Zoho Analytics, users can trigger actionable workflows, including URL and Webhook actions. The platform integrates seamlessly with Zoho Flow, enabling 500+ app triggers. It features a no-code data connector builder, allowing users to create custom connectors to bring data from any custom application. Partners can also build data connectors that can be published and sold on Zoho Marketplace.

    The new Zoho Analytics release features over 100+ updates, including new visualisations, enhanced dashboard building, audit and admin controls, revamped mobile apps, Right-to-Left (RTL) support, and more.

  • Zoho Partners with She Code Africa to Empower and Upskill Women Through Specialised Training on Zoho Creator

    Zoho Partners with She Code Africa to Empower and Upskill Women Through Specialised Training on Zoho Creator

    Zoho, a global technology company, is partnering with She Code Africa (SCA), a leading non-profit organisation dedicated to empowering and upskilling African women in tech. With this partnership, Zoho will conduct Train the Trainer sessions for SCA Academy trainers to introduce them to Zoho Creator, the company’s low-code app development platform. These trainers will subsequently train more students, associated with SCA, to build powerful applications using low-code to solve actual business problems.

    The upskilling sessions will be provided as part of the ‘Young Creators Programme’ (YCP) run by Zoho Creator. As part of the programme, Zoho will host 30 female trainers from the SCA Academy and will conduct a three-day in-depth training session about building enterprise-grade applications with low-code technology. The training will take place at the Zoho office in Lagos, Nigeria. The trainers will also receive free access to the Creator platform for one year, along with training material. 

    “At Zoho, we believe in supporting local communities by upskilling and hiring local talent, empowering local businesses with our technology, and promoting responsible and sustainable development. Our growth strategy, known as transnational localism, embodies these values. In continuation of this commitment to support progress at the grassroots, we are partnering with She Code Africa to equip Nigerian students with critical tech skills,” said Kehinde Ogundare, Country Head, Zoho Nigeria.

    “The ‘Young Creators Programme’ aims to bridge the technical skill gap and support talent-building for our youth who will be the next generation of leaders and professionals. We are glad to partner with Zoho to help our trainers learn the latest advancements in low-code technology, and then pass on the knowledge to our other students,” said Maryblessing Okolie, Community Manager.  

    Launched globally in 2022, the Young Creators Programme is a training programme aimed at equipping future business leaders with advanced digital skills and fostering innovation in technology.  The programme brings value by providing access to Zoho Creator’s powerful platform to help participants build custom applications in a simple and seamless manner without extensive programming knowledge. Beyond skill development, the programme boosts confidence, fosters personal growth, and opens doors to further opportunities in the technology industry. The programme has trained more than 2000+ students on Zoho Creator globally, enabling participants to earn programme completion certificates and exciting prizes.

  • Airtel Director, Others Discuss Innovations for Educational Advancement in Nigeria

    Airtel Director, Others Discuss Innovations for Educational Advancement in Nigeria

    Director of Corporate Communications and CSR at Airtel Nigeria, Femi Adeniran, has joined other thought leaders, to propose strategic solutions to advance Nigeria’s educational system, including Artificial Intelligence, for innovative teaching methodologies.

    Adeniran made his remarks while speaking as part of a panel at the ‘Blackbelt Graduation Ceremony’ organized by 1 Million Teachers, an international teacher training organization, at the Lagos Country Club, Ikeja, on Saturday, 6th July 2024.

    Airtel Nigeria was a co-sponsor of the 1 Million Teachers Blackbelt Graduation.

    The panel, titled “Leveraging Expertise and Innovations for Advancing Educational Reforms in Africa,” also featured Patrick Egbunonu, a faculty member at St. Lawrence College, Canada; Emmanuel Asika, the Country Head of HP Nigeria; and Olanrewaju Oniyitan, the Project Director of Seed Care and Support Foundation.

    In his response to a question regarding school reputation management in the current dynamic environment enabled by digital media, Adeniran proposed a quality delivery as the most important ingredient for successful school marketing.

    “Schools face restrictions on using children for advertising and publicity, making the institution rely on word-of-mouth to communicate achievements. On this note, schools must implement impactful programs that connect with their community. Direct and open communication platforms such as Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) meetings keep parents informed of your strategies to help you spread to your community,” he said.

    He added that continuous engagement with stakeholders on social media such as Instagram and LinkedIn would also play a vital role in enhancing the image of educational institutions.

    Further addressing the concern about partnership to drive educational advancement, Mr. Femi Adeniran reiterated Airtel’s commitment towards education, highlighting its ongoing $57million partnership with UNICEF on the ‘Airtel/UNICEF Re-imagine Education’ program.

    “By the end of year one, over 600,000 students were already learning through the Learning Passport. Now, we have 960 public schools connected to digital education through the Airtel-UNICEF partnership,” he noted.

    The Lagos State Commissioner of Basic Education, Mr. Jamiu Alli-Balogun, who presented his remarks to round off the event, commended organizations that have approached the government to partner and support education over time. He also charged Teachers to hold their occupation jealously and be prepared for more technological advancement to enable them to stay ahead of their students who are younger and fast-moving with technology.

    One Million Teachers is an initiative committed to grooming high-quality teachers and fostering grassroots improvements through innovative approaches. Through the ‘Blackbelt Graduation Ceremony’, 1 Million Teachers celebrate teachers for their commitment to advancing their skills to effectively carry out their roles in the community.

  • Olam Agri in Nigeria’s Country Head Recognised for Contributions to Agric Sector

    Olam Agri in Nigeria’s Country Head Recognised for Contributions to Agric Sector

    Olam Agri in Nigeria, an agribusiness in food, feed, and fibre, has further strengthened its position as one of the top investors in the local agriculture value chains. The business’ robust value chain investment was recognised at the Nigerian Business Leadership Awards (NBLA), on Saturday, December 9, 2023, at the Landmark Event Centre, in Lagos.

    The NBLA is organised annually by BusinessDay, a leading provider of business intelligence and market-moving news, to recognise remarkable business leaders and organisations that have sustained a commitment to excellence in enterprise across the country. At this year’s edition of the awards, Olam Agri in Nigeria’s Country Head, Ashish Pande, was recognised as the Most Admired CEO in the Agriculture sector in acknowledgement of the business’s positive impact on the sector, and support for the Federal Government’s economic development agenda.

    Speaking about the rationale behind the awards, Frank Aigbogun who is the organiser of the awards and publisher of Businessday newspaper said, “A top rating agency, Moody, recently raised Nigeria’s economic outlook for next year to positive. This news provides a reason for us to hope. In this context, we are glad to recognise the leaders and the companies that daily strive to put their businesses at the forefront to successfully navigate the operating environment and contribute to the growth of the economy. We celebrate these businesses and their leaders. I salute their courage and resilience. They deserve to be recognised.”

    Commenting on the recognition, Ashish Pande, who was represented by a strong team of top-level executives from Olam Agri, said, “We are grateful to the organisers of the awards for this recognition. The award recognition underlines Olam Agri’s rising investments across the agriculture value chains. These investments are part of our pursuit of food & nutrition-secure and sustainable Nigeria under the Seeds for The Future (SFTF) initiative.  The Seeds for the Future initiative is our social sustainability investment vehicle with five levers, namely, supporting farms and farmers, enabling wider education and skill development for young people, empowering indigent women, promoting health and nutrition across the country, and reducing carbon emissions in our business operations.”

    He explained that the business’s investments continue to enable improved productivity in the rice milling, wheat milling, animal feed & poultry, edible oil, tomato, and cotton production segments, in addition to generating thousands of employment opportunities for the teeming local population.

    The Olam Agri in Nigeria’s top-level executives that attended the awards comprised Abhishek Singh,  Vice President of the wheat milling unit; Moshood Quadri, General Manager, Human Resources; Uduak Joshua, Manager, Human Resources; Bishesh Jha, Vice President, Supply Chains; Amit Agarwal, Senior Vice President, Animal Feeds; Bola Adeniji, General Manager/ Head of Marketing; Damilola Adeniyi, Manager, Corporate Affairs, and Elizabeth Nnoko, Manager, Communications.

  • How Stanbic IBTC’s Activities Drive Job Creation

    How Stanbic IBTC’s Activities Drive Job Creation

    Stanbic IBTC continued to champion the job creation drive in Nigeria through initiatives such as its graduate trainee programme and various entrepreneurial programmes, which had created job opportunities for Nigerians.

    Dr. Demola Sogunle, Chief Executive, Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC commented on the financial institutions’ role as a job provider in Nigeria. He said the financial services provider was always at the forefront in bridging Nigeria’s unemployment deficit through its various programmes and provided necessary tools for its graduands to navigate through the 21st-century job environment.

    “As a financial institution that placed much value on job creation, Stanbic IBTC continued to provide various employment opportunities to bridge the nation’s unemployment gap. Through our various graduate trainee programmes, we had ushered successful candidates out of the despair of unemployment and economic instability. Unemployment figure released by the National Bureau of Statistics was quite high, at 33.3 percent.” Demola said.

    “Graduates under our trainee programmes were exposed to seasoned subject experts in artificial intelligence and machine learning, financial management, data, cloud and blockchain technology. Stanbic IBTC has enabled numerous graduates to be prepared for the future,” he added.

    The Chief Executive noted that Stanbic IBTC would continue to provide opportunities for Nigerians to achieve their dreams and contribute to bridging the nation’s unemployment deficit.

    “At Stanbic IBTC, we strongly believe in the dreams and aspirations of every Nigerian and we remain committed to providing avenues for fulfilling these aspirations,” Demola said.

    Funke Amobi, Country Head, People and Culture, Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC commented on the role  Stanbic IBTC played in bridging Nigeria’s unemployment deficit. She said the financial services provider had taken the lead to provide job opportunities for Nigerian youths despite the economic challenges that plagued business organisations.

    “The importance of job opportunities cannot be overemphasised in Nigeria. As a corporate entity, we have lived up to these responsibilities, and have provided opportunities to Nigerians through our trainee programmes. Also, our entrepreneurial programmes are geared at equipping beneficiaries with the required skills to run successful businesses, and thus enhancing employment generation. ,” Funke said.

    She further assured Nigerians that the organisation would continue to provide opportunities for citizens to achieve their aspirations.